Unsuspected Evil

Chapter 3: When The Butler Met The Barber

In the evening.

Emerging through the damp fog and bustle of London, Sebastian narrowed his eyes as he reached Fleet Street, where the winning barber resided. The miserable looking street was quite worn and dingy, yet plenty of people seemed to be using it, and the various apothecaries, shops and eateries appeared to be rather successful, despite their rather shabby appearance.

'Or perhaps I am just too much of a snobby demon that I am used to only spotless standards earning success now,' Sebastian thought to himself, managing an amused smile as he strolled across to a quieter part of the street to get his bearings.

He gazed to a bustling pie shop (or emporium as it has been named), tables littered with beings of all shapes and sizes, all classes and all ages, enjoying a hearty meat pie or two, along with plenty of gin to go around (naturally). Something Sebastian had always been fascinated by, was the culture of humans eating. It always seemed to be a rather joyous affair for most humans, a time to socialize with their family or friends, instead of treating another human necessity in a trivial manner, something that Sebastian recalled his master doing rather a lot. Even Sebastian, as a demon, had an eating ritual, unlike most demons he was rather patient for his meal, and felt that the hungrier he was when he received the meal, the tastier and more satisfying the meal would be.

The butler noticed a sign on the stairs next to the pie shop, his eyes able to read the text as clear as day, even from the long distance he was stood at. So, he had got the right address, the barbers was directly above the pie establishment, how interesting. At that time, the place was closed, something that the butler had predicted before he had even ventured out from the manor. Yet still, he had been pulled here for some reason that he couldn't quite put his finger on.

The demon pushed firmly through the stream of civilians coarsing down Fleet Street, apologizing to any woman he may have accidentally brushed against (being the charming gentleman that he was, he gained some flirtatious looks in return, not that he seemed too bothered). 'Well, I may as well begin some investigation into why I was drawn here.' he told himself, looking over the busy pie eaterie in wonder, noticing most humans were eating in the exterior of the place, or even in the courtyard next to the stairs up to the barber shop. The noise from the customers was raucous, yet not something that was a bad thing, noisy customers usually were a sign that the food was good, or that's what Sebastian had learned from his time with human beings thus far.

Under the babble of customers, he heard a dense metallic clunk, of something heavy slamming shut, then a drawn out snap of what reminded him of a dense lock on a door. He waded further through the tables, through laughing hoardes of singing people, swaying their tumblers of ale or gin around. Deciding that he merely admired the ways of humans, and would rather leave it at that, he strode over to the main door into the shop's interior, noticing the 'Open' sign hanging inside the door's window. The door swung open and he stepped inside cautiously, carefully holding the handle inside to ensure the door did not slam as it fell shut. He peered around in curiosity, realising the absence of staff or customers was rather odd. Some sort of staff were clearly existent as he observed fresh flour scattered across a worktop, and stacks of clean trays ready to be used. Everything else looked like it had been dumped much to Sebastian's annoyance, he could see however, that this was probably because all of the work was being left to one poor human, instead of the several he would have expected to work in such an establishment.

He decided to wait around for a few moments to see if anyone would arrive, picking a booth in the window, so he could still have a view of the outside as well as the preparation area to his right. As quickly as he perched, another door was opened, clearly one used only for staff, prompting Sebastian to sit up straight, his body rotating to look at whoever had entered. He kept quiet, studying the woman in interest. Her lace-glove hands gripped tightly around a hot tray of fresh pies, burgundy red locks tied up into messy pigtails, which fell into fun ringlets. She was breathing heavy, which told Sebastian she had been the one rushed off of her feet, and he imagined the tight dress hugging to her hour-glass figure did not aid her one bit. She sighed and began humming, totally oblivious to the butler's mesmerized stare, placing the tray onto her unorganized worktop, swiping one hand against the other to remove any unwanted flour before using the back of one to wipe the sweat off of her forehead.

"Finally I gets a bit'a piece and quiet to meself..." she mumbled to herself, placing her fingerless-gloved hands on her hips, chocolate eyes tiredly looking over her messy workstation. Sebastian suddenly chuckled, her eyes raising to find the source of the noise. Her eyes widened and she gasped, "Oh I am ever so sorry! I didn't see ya there!" The butler stood stiffly, plastering that charming smile on his lips without realising. "No, no, not at all Miss." he replied, arms glued by his sides as he walked towards her place at the counter. "I did not wish to intrude if you wanted to have a break from your work. Interludes are precious. I comprehend entirely as I myself, am a butler."

The baker blushed a colour that almost matched her hair, avoiding eye contact with her customer. "Oh w-well, that's very kind 'o you sir, but I wanna make sure everyone got what they came for, lucky I got these fresh outta the oven for ya!" she exclaimed chirpily, digging out a clean plate from beneath the counter. He liked this woman, he wasn't sure why, perhaps it was the fact she seemed so determined to serve her customer no matter what - that and her insistence on being so cheerful...

"Here ya go love," she said, handing over the plate with a hot pie placed upon it. Sebastian nodded in thanks, and she turned, expecting him to go and sit back down, yet he didn't move, looking at the back of her dress. How intricate the design was, how morbid and devoid of colour - he liked that too.

"Pardon, Miss?" the butler asked, knowing that there was a possibility the woman could in fact throw the pie in his face if she didn't like his proposal. "I do not wish to intrude, but I would rather enjoy some company. I honestly find you a fascinating woman, and would love to converse with you a little."

The baker turned on her heels, she looked taken aback and her eyes faltered a little, were those the beginning of watery tears that had been building up in the bottom of her eyes?

"Me? Fascinatin'?" she whispered, with no fear of gazing straight into the butler's dark red eyes. "That's the first time anyone's called me that! You sir, you sound fascinatin' to me! And I would love t'spend me break talkin' to you. It would be a pleasure Mister." Sebastian smiled again, nodding his head as he carried his plate over to where he had been previously sat. She followed him, heavy footsteps as her heeled boots hit the stone floor. She sat on the opposite side of the table, sighing as her bottom hit the cushioned seat.

"Well, this is the first time anyone's ever wanted to talk t'me as a customer!" she began, avoiding looking at him by staring out of the window next to them, open palms resting beneath her chin. "What made a stranger such as yourself want to chat?" The butler removed his gloves with his teeth, ensuring he remembered to be careful not to show the woman his contract mark. "I wished to congratulate you on the awards you have receieved recently, I read a small article on this establishment in this morning's newspaper, you are quite the baker." he replied, black nailed fingers pulling the crusty pastry in two with little difficulty. The scent of the innards was slightly peculiar, but not at all repulsive. He recognised the smells of the herbs and even spices that wafted into his nostrils, yet there was still one scent he could not place.

"Oh, you're too kind Mr butler, sir," she thanked with a giggle, facing him now that she wished to return him a smile. "I hope you like it, I'm sure a butler like yourself is used to food 'o high standards." He lifted half of the pastry up, biting into it with haste. His eyes widened, the flavour of the pie was impeccable, he couldn't fault it, in fact it had to be one of the best human foods he had tasted, he found most humans food tasteless but this food was different. "This is ... delicious!" he whispered, eyes wide as he took another bite. The baker let out a heavy breath and avoided his gaze again, her awkward actions towards him becoming more noticable to Sebastian. He could tell she wasn't used to any attention (at least with chatting to male customers) whatsoever.

"So you said you're a butler," the red head said, changing the subject. "A butler for who exactly?" He swallowed down another bite, still surprised at how much he liked this human's food. "I am the head butler of the Phantomhive household," he answered, hastily taking another chunk out of the half of pie he held. She gasped again, this time visibly gulping, "Ph-Phantomhive? As in Earl Phantomhive? 'eavens! What's a dashin' head butler like you doin' out visitin' me shop at a time like this?!" He was suddenly reminded of Mey-Rin, she had the same look of surprise and nervousness the maid always seemed to have about her whilst she was around him. "To be frank, Miss, I don't quite know. I could not stand another night at that manor, I needed to get out for a night, have some time for myself." She nodded, looking out of the window again, watching a young brunette boy rushing around the tables outside, filling up tumbler after tumbler.

"Wish I could get away Mister," she muttered, seeming lost in her thoughts. "I'm runnin' this place all by me lonesome, not even Mr T upstairs is willin' to give me an 'and, bloody stubborn bastard 'e is..." Sebastian paused, hiding his amused smirk when she realised she'd voiced something that had probably come to mind, not thinking about what she had been saying.

Before she could say anything else, he cut in, "I don't believe I caught your name?" She sighed, chuckling in relief, something the butler found rather likeable. "Eleanor Lovett, but everyone calls me Nellie." she declared, holding out her fingerless-gloved hand for a shake. He dusted off his hands as dropped the pie, "Sebastian Michaelis." He reached for her hand and firmly tilted it so the back of her hand faced upwards, his other wiping his mouth, "Ideally I would have liked to be bowing as I did this." He planted a chaste kiss on her hand, he could feel her fingers quivering as he let her go, her cheeks flushing again. She could still feel the damp outlines of his lips on her skin and her breath caught slightly.

Sebastian picked up the pie once again, pausing before he bit into it, "Lovett, you say? How interesting. You mentioned a 'Mr T' before. I presume you are referring to the barber upstairs, you two are not married?" She suddenly let out a snort, he excused her carelessness as he needed information. "Lord no! I'm 'is landlady, I've known 'im for quite a while, I don't expect 'im to be helpin' down here anytime soon. 'E never 'as." He narrowed his eyes as he chewed, glancing at the window behind him to gaze at the stairs outside. "You seem rather rushed off your feet here Miss Lovett, why not hire more staff?" he asked, turning back to face her. "I like hirin' people I can trust. And right now that's meself and my son, Toby," she informed, nodding to the flustered young boy outside. "I can't trust any old person to work 'ere anymore. It's become too complicated."

The butler finished the last of his meal, dusting his hands off once more. Her brown eyes glanced over at the window behind Sebastian, like she'd be expecting the barber upstairs to be down any moment. The butler frowned and turned to face the stairs too, where there were no signs of life. "You have feelings for the barber, is that why it is complicated?" he remarked, earning a shallow breath from Nellie. She sighed, "Is it that obvious? Hell, I always 'ave. I don't know why I'm tellin' you all this. I just 'aven't had much company from anyone 'part from my son in some time." Sebastian smiled, suddenly reaching for her hands across the table, "Then I hope I am helping. I can see that the love you have for the barber must be unrequited, a position I have been in countless times. He is your tenant, treat him as nothing less and perhaps you will be able to control your feelings much more," he advised, internally both scolding himself and laughing at the fact he was simply one hell of a good damned liar. "And if need be, I can aid you here in the evenings, as at this time, I tend to have nothing to do, so I may as well be of service to you."

She gazed down at her hands in his, and he squeezed them slightly, as if to show her that he was genuine. "Kindness will be the death 'o you, Mr Michaelis," Nellie whispered, raising her eyes to look into his red ones. How true her statement was. The baker stared at him in interest for a few seconds, looking over his seemingly perfect, symmetrical features, dark brows to match raven hair, which was styled in a neat yet unique fashion, a strand falling in between his eyes. He was well groomed (despite the devoloping stubble around his mouth, chin and jawline, which she found rather daring, seeing as most blokes came down the stairs stubble-less or down the chute dead) and she felt rather underdressed now that she saw his tie and tailcoat, but found her heart pounding at the care he obviously had taken to look that smart. Something about him made her think of the barber upstairs, perhaps it was the eccentricity of the two men or just the fact they both seemed so dedicated to their jobs. She hoped she wasn't beginning to fancy this man too...

A stampede of footsteps parading over the floor above, and next the staircase outside, made the butler and baker stop looking at one another. As Sebastian had predicted the staff door behind them flew open, slamming shut so forcefully that it made the thin-paned windows next to the two of them shake threateningly. Eleanor suddenly avoided eye contact with Sebastian, and also with whoever had entered, staring down at the table before her, shifting uncontrollably in her seat.

There was an uneasy silence, and for a while, the butler was wondering whether anyone had actually entered due to it being so quiet.

Then he could hear dishevelled, erratic breaths, yet it was too delayed to have been the rush down the stairs that had caused these exhales.

"Why are you not working?" the guttural voice from the man who had entered came, Sebastian detecting a touch of venom mixed into the man's arrogant, domineering tone. He was unfortunately reminded of his young master at that moment, perhaps he'd turn out in the same way as the man who had rudely interrupted him and his new acquaintance mid conversation?

Eleanor lifted her head warily, like she was afraid to even look at the man standing by the door, out of Sebastian's view. It was as if the bubbly baker he had met previously had never even existed. Yet, somehow, the awkwardness amused him inside.

"Oh, 'ello Mr T!" she greeted with that same airy voice she had before, yet it quivered slightly. " 'Ow can I help ya love?" The woman's hands were still being held by Sebastian's, and he could feel the clamminess of her skin which made him frown slightly.

"Upstairs. Now. I need a word." the man drawled through clenched teeth, taking a few steps closer to Eleanor. The scuffles of the man's shoes against the floor suddenly stopped a couple of metres from the booth. The man was silent yet Sebastian swore he heard the crack of bony knuckles now that he looked upon the stubborn barber that his new acquaintence had been speaking of.

The photograph in the paper hadn't seemed so bad now the butler thought back - as the man standing before them now looked like a complete maniac; he had twisted, chaotic black hair with a white streak slicing to the left, his frame was slim much like Sebastian, but he was certain that the barber was not as tall. His eyes were devoid of brightness, they were black like ashes, as if the man indeed had been snuffed out long ago. He was clad in the same clothing he'd been wearing in the photo Sebastian had seen, only now the clothes were somewhat dishevelled and he was without the cotton jacket, the waistcoat was still there, just hanging open to which Sebastian gritted his teeth. From the facial expression he supposed the barber was angry for whatever reason, yet it didn't explain the man's rudeness towards the baker sat sheepishly across from him. As a demon, Sebastian thought the man was fantastic, admirable even. As a butler however, he thought the man was a snide, vulgar waste of space for having no ettiquette, and nothing more.

"N-Now? Wot's the rush love?" Eleanor replied, so quietly that Sebastian almost had to strain his ears to hear her - perhaps he wasn't supposed to have heard that. He narrowed his dark red eyes at the man curiously, taking his hands away from the woman in order to slip on his gloves quickly (he couldn't risk his mark being seen). The movement caught the barber's black eyes, which seemed to widen significantly at Sebastian. Had he not noticed the butler being there before?

Observing the spiteful glower that Mr Todd was giving her new acquaintence, Eleanor cleared her throat, starting to stand up from her seat, "Y'know wot Mr T, you're right. There's no time like the present as I always say after all - " She let out a little whimper as Mr Todd pushed firmly onto her shoulder to make her sit back in place. She let her gaze drop in defeat down to the table, to which Sebastian's red eyes faltered as he watched her. In his peripheral vision, he could see the barber lowering himself so that his face was inches from the left side of his, in what he supposed the man thought was an act of intimidation or challenge. He smirked internally.

The barber was so close to him that he could practically feel each heavy, aggravated breath coming out of the man.

"And you are?!" Mr Todd spat, knuckles cracking again as his fingers rolled down into his palms, making fists either side of him.

Eleanor shot Sebastian a look of worry as he looked back at her, yet his eyes were full of amusement to which she seemed startled. "I'm merely a newly met acquaintance of your landlady," he replied casually, his higher-class accent even more prominent and distinguished against the barber's own accent. "I do hope I'm not breaking any laws speaking with her." The barber scoffed at his cheeky comment, leaning backwards to take a step away from the table. He was silent, but his eyes managed to convey how he felt quite clearly: he was unquestionably pissed off.

Eleanor cleared her throat, uncomfortable with the aggressive undertones from Mr Todd, and decided to at least calm the situation. "This is Mr Sebastian Michaelis, Mr Todd," she said normally, to which the man did not acknowledge her presence, he was unable to tear away from the butler who was staring back at him smugly. "He'll be workin' in 'ere most evenin's now. I needed the 'elp, 'specially now we're ever so busy." Sebastian turned his head back to look at her, nodding. The barber made an incoherent growl, snapping away from his position, so his back was turned. She sighed quietly, looking longingly over at Mr Todd, Sebastian saw so much longing in fact, that he could have sworn she was about to cry. "Do 'scuse him," she whispered, speaking to the butler but still staring desperately after the barber, who was breathing erratically again, clutching locks of his hair in frustration. "He's still in grief, poor man. He's been away from London for a long time, and 'e's come home expectin' 'is family to be here. But all of that, is gone. 'As been f'years." Sebastian narrowed his eyes in interest. 'What a tortured soul he is.' he thought, averting his eyes from the man as he noticed he'd began to turn to face the two of them again. Eleanor however, did not shy away from gazing at the disturbed man, and almost let out a gasp when she saw his plastered on grin.

"I do apologise Mr Michaelis," Mr Todd said calmly, arms limp and lifeless by his sides. "Pardon my reaction, I just thought you were taking advantage of Mrs Lovett over here." She seemed surprised at his words as a furious blush came over her and she began breathing heavier. "I couldn't have that, sir. Y'see, she's been ever so kind t'me. A young man like you would only... violate... such kindness in a woman." he continued, forcing his smile again once he'd finished. The demon butler was actually speechless, the nerve of this human was beginning to itch at him.

"I would never take advantage of a woman," Sebastian replied (seemingly) honestly, despite the fact he personally knew it was one hell of steaming lie. "especially Miss Lovett here, who I have only just met this evening. She is also the owner of my workplace as of tomorrow night, so do you really think I would be so foolish as to throw away a perfectly decent job, just for my own twisted pleasure?"

Foolish.

Sweeney Todd hated that word.

Mr Todd sniffed, masking his anger for now, "No, son. I'm just warning you before you go ahead and throw your life away. Look at you. All dressed fancy, what's the need to be workin' in a place like this? Y'must have some other intentions to be wantin' to work here."

The barber did have a point.

"I-I need money, my master is not willing to give me a raise," Sebastian lied, adding a worried wobble to his voice. "I do so much in that house, he is not nearly as grateful as he should be - " at this point Mrs Lovett's eyes seemed to falter in empathy as she looked back at Mr Todd (who was still stern as ever) " - the other servants are useless, they wreak havoc rather than aid anyone. I need escape for I have terrible insomnia from all of the stress, I feel like keeping busy here will certainly be worth a try."

Mrs Lovett looked back at the butler with knitted brows, a sad expression on her face as the man buried his head in a cage of arms. She patted his forearm, then shot a worried glance to Mr Todd, who for the first time that night actually looked back at her, though his eyes were a void of unreadable emptiness. Despite his emotion, he sighed and nodded towards her, shaking his head as he swiftly turned on his heels and marched out of the shop, the door slamming after him.

"There there, dear." she consoled, rubbing his shoulder. "You're quite welcome t'work 'ere. If piling work on top 'o work 'elp's ya, who am I t'judge? Get y'self 'ome tonight. I'll see ya tomorrow just after dusk, alright?"

The butler lifted his head slightly, nodding, "Yes. My apologies. I do not usually lose control like that." He was holding back a chuckle.

"Don't you worry dear, we all 'ave those moments."

She stood from her seated position, straightening out the front of her dress whilst Sebastian wasn't looking.

" 'Specially a certain barber who broods away upstairs..." she muttered, to which he smirked.

Human hearing isn't a patch on a demon's, that's why it was fun appearing as a human, acting so naive to someone, despite knowing their secrets. Or immensely fun when he would 'accidentally' let something slip...

Already, Sebastian Michaelis was looking forward to his job: moonlighting at the pie emporium.

And with the brooding barber upstairs, he was sure to stir up whatever had dragged him to the street in the first place.

Something was off.

And he knew he'd eventually get to the bottom of it.

A/N This is as far as I've got so far. I feel like this chapter is ridiculously long but I loved writing it, and hoped you enjoyed it considering you got down here. If you love the idea or think it's worth me carrying on, let me know by PM or review and I'll start carrying on with it immediately. Thanks for reading :)